Today (I wrote this text on the 7th of February, 2026), while walking and doing street photography, I realized (not for the first time in my life) that the world, with its total ugliness, is remarkably beautiful.
I took over 11k steps and took over 220 pictures. Of course, I was walking really slowly due to my right calf injury. Did I enjoy my walk? I think the answer is obvious. Without the delightment of mundane reality and its total ugliness, I would not do street photography. Did I have a heavy rucksack? Yes and no. No, because with my injured leg, it is impossible to get close to my record of walking with 37.5 kg (83 lbs). Yes, because I had 15 kg (33 lbs) on my back and shoulders. Considering I should not walk with heavy equipment until the end of February, I believe it is a great result. Did I get crazy that I walk such weights with an injured leg? Perhaps, I am.
Still, I feel that the worst enemy of my injury is not the weight, but the speed of my walking.
I must walk really slowly so as not to feel pain in my leg. Luckily, neither before, during, nor after my walk did I feel the pain. That’s why tomorrow, perhaps I will increase the weight of my backpack to 19 kg (42 lbs). I simply feel I want to do it, to test myself. How happy I am that tomorrow, I will also be walking and doing street photography. Again, I will be able to cherish the mundane reality, which is remarkably beautiful with its total ugliness. I tend to say that the uglier the place, the more vibrant potential it has, for me, to take great pictures. Nothing changed in this case since I first said these words (from what I recall, I could say these words for the first time in 2017 or 2018).
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